America's so-called ‘war on terror' is far from over. The military campaigns against Afghanistan and Iraq are won but restoration of a secure, civil society in both places lingers over some distant horizon. Meanwhile, conflict with Syria or Iran looks possible.

We are often deeply troubled by the absence of the so-called ‘blue collar workers' in our churches. I am not sure whether such a term is a very adequate description of the social make-up of the community, but it seems to me to be somewhat misleading as we think about the reality of modern Australia.

What does a Prime Minister do when his mail brings in bags of letters asking for a national day of prayer? We now know his staff put them together and send them to the National Council of Churches (NCCA) with a note indicating these requests appear to be a matter for the churches.

Pioneering efforts to reach out to residents of a nursing home complex in southwest Sydney were commended recently by the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen. “This is a good example of the diocesan mission at work in a location and setting outside the actual church building,” said Dr Jensen of the work of the four-strong team from St Alban's, Macquarie Fields at the Frank Whiddon Masonic Homes in Glenfield.

Christians and other non-Islamic asylum seekers continue to be the targets of religious violence in detention centres around Australia, despite the efforts of Christian leaders to seek government help in protecting detainees.

In the wake of the recent State election the Rev Dr Gordon Moyes from the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) has described support from church leaders as ‘too little, too late'. Dr Moyes has been returned to the upper house in his own right and will join Fred Nile. But the Rev Ross Clifford, Principal of Morling Theological College, who also stood for the CDP, was not elected.

Rick Filmer, verger of St Andrew's Cathedral was pelted with stones and verbally abused as he stood inside the Cathedral entrance during a violent anti-war demonstration in Sydney Square on March 26.

First published on September 10, 2001, Stupid White Men is a book that very nearly wasn't. The 9/11 attacks made publishers Harper-Collins twitchy about selling a book which accuses George W Bush of ‘stealing' the presidency, argues for a reduction in spending on the defence forces and criticises almost every facet of modern American society.